Police arrested Michael and Gregory Klein, both 21, who live at 19 Salt Box Lane, Darien, with their mother Evonne and their father Randy, who is chairman of the town's Democratic committee. Kevin Green, 22, of 30 Lynn Court, Darien, William Canning, 21, of 12 Edgehill Road, Darien and Rocco Colandro, 21, of 66 Hoyclo Road, Stamford, were also arrested.

All five men were charged with third-degree conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal trespass. In addition, Michael Klein was charged with sixth-degree larceny.

The charges stem from an incident in which a New Canaan High School football player reported that someone urinated on team equipment, which was being kept in the Darien girls' locker room during the Nov. 22 game. The same football player reported $20 was taken from his backpack.

The Klein family did not return calls seeking comment, but attorney Mark Sherman, who is representing Green, said the charges were extreme.

"I would describe the charges as being heavy-handed," Sherman said.

He added that his client "was not responsible for any of the alleged vandalism, and that we'll sort this all out in court, possibly with the help of video evidence."

In the days after the incident, Darien High School Athletic Director Michael Sullivan conducted an initial investigation, during which he was able to rule out the possibility that the crime was committed by current Darien students using surveillance tapes of the locker room. Those tapes were then turned over to the Darien Police Department for its investigation.

This is the second consecutive year that the annual Turkey Bowl tradition between the rival towns was linked to criminal charges for young men rooting for the Blue Wave.

Last year, a fight at an underage drinking party the weekend before the game resulted in the hospitalization of one Darien student and a second-degree assault charge against former Darien football player Scott Waters, as well as a youthful offender whose name was not disclosed by the police department.

While that was the first instance in recent memory when criminal charges were linked to the Thanksgiving tradition, it was not the first scandal. In 2010, a royal blue "D" was tagged on the entrance to New Canaan High School's stadium, and the school's door handles were painted blue.